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Illinois Public Media

Former President Carter Brings Human Rights Mission to Illinois

Former president Jimmy Carter made a stop in Jacksonville Tuesday and spoke to over 2,000 people about his quest for peace and human rights. He spoke in a crowded gymnasium at Illinois College.

His appearance coincided with the school's new initiative called 'Pathways to Peace' in which students and faculty will study the Middle East, and have participants travel to Dubai and the West Bank.

Carter made the point that human rights injustices aren't only happening on foreign soil.

The 90 year old spoke about human trafficking, and about college campuses too often letting rape go unpunished.

“The deans and presidents of those universities don't want to admit that those crimes takes placeon their campuses, so when it happens the girl is cautioned, 'Don't make an issue of it, just don't report it. We'll counsel with the boy who's guilty, and maybe it will go away," he said.

Carter also says he hopes President Barack Obama will soon work on restarting peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

"If necessary I think that there should be a United Nations contingency there, particularly including American troops, and this is something I did when I had the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, we put American troops and others in the Sinai Desert to make sure that peace prevailed," he said.

Carter says a two-state solution for the countries is best.

Carter was joined by Dr. Khalaf Al Habtoor who created the Pathways to Peace program, and former Congressman Paul Findley.